


Arsonist’s Revenge

by Ada_Rose



Series: Living Long Enough [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Caleb Widogast-centric, Canon nein would never do this, Dark Beauregard, Dark Caleb Widogast, Dark Mighty Nein, Empire Kids, Empire Siblings - Freeform, Evil Mighty Nein au, Fire, Gen, Heroes to Villains, How Do I Tag, Other, POV Caleb Widogast, Revenge, Soltryce Academy (Critical Role), This is an AU, no betas we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ada_Rose/pseuds/Ada_Rose
Summary: Caleb wanted one thing: no more children on the pyre. To do that, he’ll have to make a pyre of his own. It’s good to know that Beau and the rest of Mighty Nein will always be by his side for such things.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast
Series: Living Long Enough [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971823
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Arsonist’s Revenge

**Author's Note:**

> Another dark!Nein fic! Last one was about Jester and this one is Caleb centric. I wanna do one for all of them and I have a vague idea of what I want to do for Beau so hers might be next. But that might change. So for now just enjoy the fic and feel free kudos and comment and all that. I like knowing someone’s reading what I throw into the void.

The flames roared as they spread, consuming the Soltryce Academy until it fell apart. Caleb watched it burn and wondered if this was supposed to be how he felt. This satisfaction and hint of morbid pleasure. Would that’ve been in his heart the day he murdered his parents had he not broke? Was this what Astrid and Eodwulf felt when they passed Ikithon’s test? He supposes it doesn’t matter now.

A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his spiral of thoughts. Caleb tore his eyes away from the burning academy and faced Beau.

“You good?”, she asked.

“Surprisingly”, Caleb replied, “I feel fine.”

The monk gave him a look that showed how much she didn’t believe him.

“It’s true”, he insisted, glancing back at the flames, “Seeing this facade burn down in front of me gives me hope in a twisted way.”

“No more children on the pyre. Well...after this one.”

“Yes. It’s unfortunate how many are being caught in the crossfire”, Caleb sighed. They didn’t have time to separate the innocent from the guilty, not if they wanted the element of surprise. It was the horrible truth of reality, if they wanted true peace, they had to start over. And starting over means everything must be ground to dust and ashes. Even the good. 

‘Especially the good’, Caleb thought. Out loud he said, “Where are our companions?”

“Yasha, Fjord, and Jester went to go deal with the guards sent to stop us”, Beau said, pointing to the main gate that led into the academy, “Veth went with Cad to try and find Ikithon. Coward fled the moment the fire started. Didn’t even try to protect his students.”

Caleb thought about the irony of Beau criticizing Ikithon for not protecting his students when they were the reason they were in danger in the first place, but decided not to bring it up to save himself from a punch to the arm. 

Two academy students ran out of the front door just as it collapsed behind them. As they came closer, Caleb noticed that it was actually one student running, and they were carrying an unconscious body with them as they ran. The conscious student, who looked as old as Caleb was when he started learning here, got as far as he could before falling to his knees. His unconscious friend laid limp on the ground. 

“Xena”, the student’s voice wavered as he tried to wake his companion, “Xena get up. We- we have to keep moving. Xena please I- I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything, just please wake up-”.

Caleb couldn’t stand to hear the begging anymore so he silently walked up and reached for his component bag, before changing his mind and grabbing his greater healing potion instead. 

“Excuse me”, he said.

The student looked up, his eyes frantic, “What…?”

Caleb held out the potion. The boy’s eyes widened and he grabbed it, wasting no time before pouring it into Xena’s throat. 

Xena came back to consciousness coughing, “What-”, She was immediately greeted with a tight hug from her friend. 

“Xena you’re ok!”, the male student exclaimed, a smile now joining his tears. 

“N- Nathaniel?”, Xena asked with a cough, “What’s going-”, at this point her eyes spotted Caleb and was immediately full of fright, “You.”

Nathaniel pulled away and glanced at Caleb, “He’s the reason you’re awake right now.”

“He’s the reason the academy is on fire”, Xena’s voice was shaking now, “I saw him on the grounds. He casted a spell and the classroom was on fire. And she-”, she was looking at Beau now, “She was with him. And she murdered our teacher when he tried to stop them.”

“Beauregard”, Caleb mock scolded.

“Oh so that’s where we draw the line!?”, Beau bit back, “Burning a school down is perfectly fine but killing just one teacher is inexcusable.”

The two of them stared at each other, then burst into laughter. 

“I suppose the standards are indeed a bit unbalanced”, Caleb jokes, “We should change that.”

Beau crossed her arms over her chest, “Does that mean burning less schools or killing more teachers?”

“Not entirely sure yet. We’ll decide when the rest get here.”, the wizard turned back to the students, who were frozen in fear now. 

Caleb knelt down to remain eye contact, making Nathaniel and Xena start to scramble back.

“Let’s not be hasty now”, his words made the students stop, “I’m not going to hurt you, none of us are. We already got what we came here for.”

Nathaniel grabbed his friend’s hand tightly, “Why did you do this? What did we do?”

“You? Nothing. Or at least nothing I know of. You were unfortunately collateral damage to get to the ones who are truly guilty”,

Caleb stood up and turned his back to the frightened pair, “If you run right now you might be able to get out. However, my companions might not be as merciful as I am. I know for certain she isn’t”, and he looked at Beau, who flipped him off, making him smile. He heard the two students- Nathaniel and Xena- run off but didn’t turn back until he was certain they were out of sight. 

“They’re not gonna make it”, Beau said, approaching him as she watched the students run.

“They will if they’re clever”, Caleb corrected. The two of them stood in silence, watching the Soltryce Academy crumble as the flames finally started to die down after what felt like an eternity. 

“Hey Caleb?”

“Yes Beauregard?”

“Are we sure this will work?”

“What do you mean?”, Caleb looked at her to find she was already looking at him, the uncertainty as clear as any book he’s read. 

“We promised to each other to make the world better. And we know the only way to do that is to brun it all down and create something new from the ashes. But what if it doesn’t work? What if we go through all this trouble and make a new world only for it to go back to how it was? Corrupted kings and power hungry wizards and children on the pyre.”

Caleb put his arm over her shoulder and gave her a side hug, which she returned with not as much reluctance as she used to.

“I’ve had the same thought”, that question has kept him up for many nights, especially last night before the attack, “But I think I figured it out.”

“And?”

“If the new world we make doesn’t learn from their predecessors...then we burn that one down too and we try again.”


End file.
